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News About Tech, Money and InnovationTue, 31 Mar 2015 22:16:21 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Copyright 2015, VentureBeatGreatest computer demo in history debuts as an opera at Stanford this weekhttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/31/greatest-computer-demo-in-history-debuts-as-an-opera-at-stanford-this-week/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/31/greatest-computer-demo-in-history-debuts-as-an-opera-at-stanford-this-week/#commentsTue, 31 Mar 2015 11:54:17 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1688405On December 9, 1968, a man named Douglas Engelbart gave a presentation on new computing technologies that is still considered one of the most epic demos in history. Now, it's an opera.
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On December 9, 1968, a man named Douglas Engelbart gave a presentation on new computing technologies that is still considered one of the most epic demos in history.

Over the course of 90 minutes, Engelbart demonstrated things like videoconferencing, hyperlinks, networked collaboration, digital text editing, and even the mouse. For those watching, it was the first glimpse into the computing world we largely know today.

“The Demo” debuts on April 1 and 2 at the Bing Auditorium at Stanford University. The pair describe the show as “a technologically-infused music theater piece, a new form of hybrid performance.” Engelbart actually made the presentation over a video feed, and in the show, the men recreate that dynamic by beaming the performers’ faces onto a giant video screen on the stage.

According to the official description:

Rouse portrays Engelbart in The Demo, while Neill plays his technical assistant, William English. Using the video of the original 1968 demo in its full 100 minute form, the artists are creating a piece built on the formal framework of this historic event.

The pair have been refining the piece in workshop performances, but the Stanford event will mark its official debut. Here’s a clip from one of those live workshops:

Boeing has won a patent for a protective force field that could stop vehicles from being harmed by explosions, Popular Science reports.

It might sound futuristic — and it is. The patent isn’t about stopping bullets or lasers or anything like that, though. Instead, it detects explosions near a vehicle, and then quickly heats up the air or water between the vehicle and the blast. The heat creates a plasma shield that is more dense than normal air, adding to the vehicle’s protection.

This diagram from Boeing shows the different parts of the force-field system:

Boeing’s patent application shows how the force-field technology could work with a military vehicle:

The above diagram shows a military Humvee with a device that can lessen the impact of explosions from bombs like improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

But there could be other uses for Boeing’s force-field technology. Boeing notes that it can be used in water as well as air, heating up the area around boats or submarines to lessen damage from explosions.

]]>0Boeing has patented a ‘Star Wars’-style force fieldWhat to Think, Ep. 47: The future of cities with swarms of driverless carshttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/27/what-to-think-ep-47-the-future-of-cities-with-swarms-of-driverless-cars/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/27/what-to-think-ep-47-the-future-of-cities-with-swarms-of-driverless-cars/#commentsFri, 27 Mar 2015 22:30:13 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1686536In the future, you might not own a car. Instead, you'll get around town by hopping into one of many autonomous pods swarming the streets.
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In the future, you might not own a car. Instead, you’ll get around town by hopping into one of many autonomous 3-wheeled pods swarming the streets.

To get a picture of how we’ll get there, we invited Xerox executive David Cummins to talk to us about the company’s efforts to improve parking — yes, parking — and the future of transportation in cities around the world. He’s the vice president for mobility solutions at the company, which gives him a remarkable perspective on the future: That’s because many big cities use Xerox services to help them process parking payments, plan traffic and parking flows, and get prepared for the future.

In Cummins’ view, automobile ownership is on the decline. Millennials are leading this charge, with many of them deciding that they don’t need to own a car — or even have a driver’s license — when services like Uber, Lyft, or the local public transit system can take them wherever they need to go.

Autonomous vehicles will accelerate that trend. In the coming years, cities may be filled with fleets of self-driving cars — not owned by any individuals — that come to you whenever you need a ride, and drop you off where you need to go. Cities may even put in dedicated “autonomous car lanes,” just as they have started to do with bike lanes.

Cummins chats with me and VentureBeat’s Mark Sullivan about how we’ll get there, and what to expect in the next few years.

Jeffrey Nelson is an engineer who, like everyone else on this predominantly blue planet, sometimes simply gets bored. Unlike most of us, however, Nelson takes the opportunity to build something. That something just so happens to be rather stupid (his words, not mine).

Introducing the Gooper Scooper:

Nelson describes his invention as a device “that can pick ketchup and other paste/gelatinous materials up, then place them elsewhere with minimal disturbance to their shape.” It’s not clear what other substances it works with, but we’re putting our money on mayo and mustard. In fact, the Gooper Scooper is probably a solid base for a future cleaning tool that works for all sorts of spills.

The video’s description explains why Nelson decided to build this incredibly specific machine: “It’s too wet and cold to play outside… time to make something stupid.” Despite the adjective used, the invention works brilliantly, and does exactly what it was designed to do.

Compare that to these ketchup robots:

It’s almost like these two were built for each other. I could have a lot of fun splashing ketchup all over the counter and floor, only to neatly clean it all up in a flash.

Nelson runs Macpod, a small company that “specializes in software, embedded software, electronics design, and small hardware prototyping.” In other words, he had the tools to build his invention just for fun.

]]>0This guy invented a machine just for picking up ketchup blobsHailo protests against driverless cars by projecting cabbies’ faces onto London landmarkshttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/27/hailo-protests-against-driverless-cars-by-projecting-cabbies-faces-onto-london-landmarks/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/27/hailo-protests-against-driverless-cars-by-projecting-cabbies-faces-onto-london-landmarks/#commentsFri, 27 Mar 2015 12:03:30 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1686628Hailo launched its "Face to Faceless" campaign, which involves projecting the faces of London cabbies onto local landmarks. The goal? To celebrate the role of cabbies instead of driverless cars.
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Taking to the streets of the U.K. capital last night, Hailo launched what it’s calling a “Face to Faceless” campaign, which basically involves projecting the faces of London cabbies onto london landmarks and buildings. The goal? To celebrate “the role of the cabbie in the face of driverless car technology,” it said in a press release.

While Uber has often fallen foul of local taxi authorities and drivers in new markets it has sought to enter, its move into the driverless car realm is perhaps the most direct threat to taxi drivers yet, even though the fruits of this labor may yet be years away.

Hailo, however, hasn’t always been flavor of the month with taxi drivers either — starting initially as an e-hail platform for metered “black” taxis, it opened to private minicab companies last year. As a result, Hailo’s offices were vandalized, with the word “scabs” scrawled across its walls.

Now, however, Hailo wants to win the hearts and minds of taxi drivers with a visible campaign designed to distance itself not only from Uber’s initiatives, but that of the U.K. government. Indeed, Britain recently gave driverless cars the green light for testing on public roads, with £100 million ($150 million) pledged in the recent budget. A KPMG report suggested that the autonomous car industry could boost the U.K. economy by £51 billion ($75 billion) and create 320,000 new jobs by 2030.

“People don’t want robots; they need to know that their driver will get them from A to B safely and securely,” said Hailo CMO Gary Bramall. “Nothing can replace the relationship a passengers builds with their driver, and we need to stand up for drivers. Cabbies have been a part of this city for hundreds of years and the move towards driverless cars is killing not only an entire profession, but a huge part of Britain’s heritage.”

]]>0Hailo protests against driverless cars by projecting cabbies’ faces onto London landmarksHere’s what the Mars One CEO had to say about all the backlash against the missionhttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/21/heres-what-the-mars-one-ceo-had-to-say-about-all-the-backlash-against-the-mission/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/21/heres-what-the-mars-one-ceo-had-to-say-about-all-the-backlash-against-the-mission/#commentsSat, 21 Mar 2015 23:00:00 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?post_type=vb_syndicated&p=1683389"At Mars One we really value good criticism because it helps us to improve our mission," CEO Bas Lansdorp says. Good thing, because there's a lot of it.
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Mars One, the company planning to send people on a one-way trip to Mars, has been battered with criticism in the past couple months.

The most recent example is a blistering story written by Elmo Keep and published in the online magazine Matter earlier this week after Mars One finalist Josh Roche came forward to reveal some of the concerns he had with the company’s selection process for its Mars colonizers.

The story called into question how many people originally applied to be one of the astronauts to settle on Mars and never return, the way the company selected its “Mars 100″ finalists, and whether or not any of these 100 finalists have what it takes.

Cofounder and CEO of Mars One Bas Lansdorp released a video interview today addressing those points.

“At Mars One we really value good criticism because it helps us to improve our mission,” Lansdorp says at the beginning of the interview. And that’s a good thing, because there’s a lot of it:

According to Roche, as soon as anyone applied to be a Mars One astronaut, they were automatically enrolled in Mars One Community, where they could start earning points by buying Mars One merchandise or donating money to the company. The article published in Matter claimed that the top candidates announced in February were just the candidates who had donated the most money to Mars One.

Lansdorp said this isn’t true:

That is simply not true, and this is very easy to find that on our website. There are a lot of current Round Three candidates that did not make any donations to Mars One, and there are also lot of people that did not make it to the third round that contributed a lot to Mars One. The two things are not related at all and to say that they are is simply a lie.

The Matter article also confidently stated that the company only received 2,761 applications compared to its reported 200,000 applications. The controversy around this number is not new. The Guardian reported 80,000. Keep wrote in an earlier Mars One story that NBC News counted up the number of applications on the Mars One website and found only 2,761. NBC News has apparently now taken down that story.

Here’s what Lansdorp had to say about the number of applications:

The article also states that there were only 2,700 applications for Mars One which is not true. We offered the reporter, the first journalist ever, access to our list of 200,000 applications but she was not interested in that. It seems that she is more interested in writing a sensational article about Mars One than in the truth.

Roche, the Mars One finalist who decided to speak out, also raised questions about how the company was assessing its candidates.

Setting up a colony on Mars will require physical fitness and a lot of psychological stamina, and Roche was doubtful that Mars One was responsibly choosing candidates.

“[A]ll the info they have collected on me is a crap video I made, an application form that I filled out with mostly one-word answers… and then a 10-minute Skype interview,” Roche wrote to Keep in an email. “That is just not enough info to make a judgment on someone about anything.”

Lansdorp said now that the pool of (apparently) 200,000 applicants is narrowed down to a top 100, the evaluation process will get much more intense:

The selection process will be much more thorough from here on. We will bring our candidates together, we will put them through team and individual challenges, there will be much longer interviews, and there will be much a bigger selection committee. This is the way we will determine who are good enough to enter our training process.

He did not offer any more details on what the training would be like or when it will begin.

Lansdorp also still stands by the company’s proposed $6 billion budget to pull off all of this. NASA has estimated around $80 billion to $100 billion for a manned mission to Mars, but Lansdorp says the most complicated part is budgeting and preparing for the return trip — a trip Mars One is not planning.

Despite only having reported raising about 0.01 percent of that $6 billion, Lansdorp is still optimistic about the company’s finances. Last year it closed out a successful round of investment, Lansdorp said, but the processing of those investments is taking awhile:

Unfortunately, the paperwork of that deal is taking much longer than we expected. I now think that it will be completed before the summer of this year, which means that we will not be in time to finance the follow-up studies that Lockheed Martin needs to do for our first unmanned mission in 2018. This unfortunately means that we will have to delay the first unmanned mission to 2020. Delaying our first unmanned mission by two years also means that all the other missions will move by the same period of time, with our first human landing now planned for 2027.

]]>0Here’s what the Mars One CEO had to say about all the backlash against the missionThe Backed Pack: A smartwatch hub, a self-locking bike, & a smart jump ropehttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/21/the-backed-pack-a-smartwatch-hub-a-self-locking-bike-a-smart-jumprope/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/21/the-backed-pack-a-smartwatch-hub-a-self-locking-bike-a-smart-jumprope/#commentsSat, 21 Mar 2015 21:00:11 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1683156Each week, our friends at Backerjack bring us updates on some of the most successful gadget crowdfunding campaigns. Neptune Suite Rather than have the smartwatch serve as an accessory to the smartphone, the Neptune Suite, a bangle-like smartwatch, can pair with a 5″ device called the Pocket Screen. It looks a lot like an Android phone, but […]
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Each week, our friends at Backerjack bring us updates on some of the most successful gadget crowdfunding campaigns.

Neptune Suite

Rather than have the smartwatch serve as an accessory to the smartphone, the Neptune Suite, a bangle-like smartwatch, can pair with a 5″ device called the Pocket Screen. It looks a lot like an Android phone, but relies on the Internet access and brains of the watch. And for an even bigger-screen experience, the company offers a 10″ Tab Screen that’s like a tablet that’s had a lobotomy. The Tab Screen docks into a keyboard for a laptop experience. And if the Tab Screen still isn’t a big-enough screen experience, Neptune offers a Chromecast-like TV stick to send the whole experience up to your television. While some watches can control a TV, the Neptune Hub can drive its content.

Neptune has exploded onto the crowdfunding scene, raising over 800 percent of its original goal and counting. Neptune Suite is a bold product and turns the traditional model for smartphone design on its head.

YERKA

Bikes constantly get stolen, but YERKA is doing away with the need to use a standalone solution by making the bike itself its own lock. The collapsible YERKA frame works by securing the frame’s bottom halves with the bike’s seat on any pole or fence up to eight inches long. A user can also use an iOS or Android companion app to remotely lock and unlock YERKA via Bluetooth. Made from the same type of hardened steel found in Kryptonite locks, YERKA is incredibly hard to break. Even if a thief were to break through the hardened steel, the bike would remain safe, as the locked position would prevent anyone from riding it anyhow. An included anti-theft nut protects the bike’s wheels as well.

This innovative bike has already reached its funding goal with plenty of time still left to go on the campaign. YERKA offers an anti-theft solution that could very well represent the future of bicycle security.

Smart Rope

The Smart Rope takes a humble workout tool, the jump rope, and ushers it into the 21st century. Smart Rope works with an accompanying smartphone app that tracks the number of jumps, calories burned, and the duration of each workout. It also lets users input their height, weight, and BMI so that the app can come up with the best training regimen for each individual user. Best of all, the rope itself comes equipped with LED lights that, when the rope is in use, displays to the user either the number of jumps made or calories burned.

While Smart Rope’s app isn’t the most sophisticated workout app on the market, it’s a great start for a product that plans to add many more features as funding comes in. Backers agree and have pushed the Smart Rope past the $100,000 mark in their campaign.

Things took a turn for the strange in court today during Ellen Pao’s ongoing gender discrimination lawsuit against former employer and venture capital powerhouse Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.

The proceedings started normally: Kleiner Perkins called a witness, partner Juliet de Baubigny, who testified that she never felt discriminated against during her time with the firm.

De Baubigny was actually one of those who brought Pao to Kleiner Perkins, and says that she often dealt with Pao’s complaints about their coworkers.

“I really saw her as a person who could take her talents and apply them well. But consistently from the beginning her interpersonal relationships were troubled with many partners at the firm,” de Baubigny said, according to a Re/code report.

She also testified that KP general partner Randy Komisar had embarrassed her to the point of mortification because she’d shared an article from Goop, the news and lifestyle site started by actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

This testimony continued to help build the case for Kleiner Perkins, which has been trying to characterize Pao as a problem child who frequently clashed with her peers.

After de Baubigny’s testimony is when things got really weird.

Pao’s legal team called members of Kleiner Perkins’ legal team to the stand. But instead of a legal smackdown, Pao’s lawyers opted to quibble over the invoices for Kleiner Perkins’ expert witnesses.

“You don’t want us to see these numbers.” “You’re just playing games.” Pao’s lawyer to Kleiner’s lawyer about expert witness bills.

The confusion extended to the jury, as one member reportedly stood up and asked “What is going on?!” to big laughs.

There are two ways to take this weirdness, though: Either Pao’s team is making a last-ditch effort to show the jury how much Kleiner Perkins is spending on swaying their opinion — or else Pao’s team is bracing for defeat in light of the nonstop barrage of seriously injurious testimony.

If Pao loses this case, she’ll be on the hook for Kleiner Perkins’ legal bills. This case isn’t over, but it seems that Pao’s side may be losing steam. Earlier this week, Judge Harold E. Kahn indicated he was leaning against letting Pao sue for punitive damages, which would be in addition to the $16 million she’s seeking for lost opportunities due to alleged sexual discrimination.

As virtual reality and augmented reality get more sophisticated, new demos appear every day that showcase what’s possible with the technologies.

Today, Magic Leap, an augmented reality company that recently took $500 million in funding from Google, sent out this demo video, showing its own technology in use at its own offices.

In the video, we see how the technology can be used for everything from making Gmail more fun to playing video games. Magic Leap recently canceled an appearance at the TED conference because it wasn’t ready to show the tech. But it is one of the companies seen as a leader in the AR and virtual reality spaces, and a competitor to Oculus VR, which is owned by Facebook.

In an email about the video, Magic Leap wrote, “Unfortunately, we couldn’t make it to TED, but we wanted to share one of the things that we’d planned to share at the talk.”

More information:

More information:

]]>0Watch the Magic Leap demo Magic Leap didn’t show at TEDPulitzer-winning photographer shows San Francisco at its stunning besthttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/19/pulitzer-winning-photographer-shows-san-francisco-at-its-stunning-best/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/19/pulitzer-winning-photographer-shows-san-francisco-at-its-stunning-best/#commentsThu, 19 Mar 2015 12:15:35 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1682237Vincent Laforet took the world by storm with his New York City photos. Now he's aiming to do the same for San Francisco.
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San Francisco has always been known as beautiful. But in this series of photographs from Pulitzer Prize winner Vincent Laforet, the City by the Bay takes beauty to a new level.

“The overwhelming feeling I get when I fly over San Francisco,” says Laforet, “is that of peace and order. It feels like every little piece of the puzzle has somehow found its place in what is an absolutely chaotic topography. It is a true feat of engineering and city planning that so many people can live in such a confined place with crazy hills that seem to shoot up and out of the earth.”

In his new book Air, Laforet — whose photos of New York City from 10,000 feet caused a stir in January — has shown what San Francisco at its best, from the air, looks like.

“From above you can see just how vast this city is — and how incredibly tightly packed it is,” Laforet wrote. “Somehow even New York feels a little less jammed with people — which clearly makes no sense logically. But then, New York is a small island with clear borders. Downtown San Francisco is not the clear visual nucleus of the city to me. The sprawl and the bridges are.”

For fans of San Francisco, Laforet’s work is a visual delight. Please enjoy the gallery of his images.

]]>0Pulitzer-winning photographer shows San Francisco at its stunning bestMan is summoned to court after flying drones over Buckingham Palace and football stadiumshttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/18/man-is-summoned-to-court-after-flying-drones-over-buckingham-palace-and-football-stadiums/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/18/man-is-summoned-to-court-after-flying-drones-over-buckingham-palace-and-football-stadiums/#commentsThu, 19 Mar 2015 04:00:39 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?post_type=vb_syndicated&p=1681528Nigel Wilson, 42, from Nottingham, is accused of flying drones illegally from September to December last year.
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A man has been summoned to Westminster Magistrates’ Court after illegally flying drones over famous London landmarks and football stadiums across the country. The Met Police released a statement on Wednesday, listing 17 offences under the Air Navigation Order 2009.

Nigel Wilson, 42, from Nottingham, is accused of flying drones illegally from September to December last year. He has been summoned to appear on April 16 — almost exactly a year after the country’s first conviction for the illegal use of an unmanned aerial vehicle. Some of the football stadiums include Anfield, where Liverpool play, Nottingham Forest Stadium, and the Emirates, home to Arsenal. On a number of occasions, police say Wilson flew a drone while football matches were going on.

The Met reports that Wilson flew drones over the Houses of Parliament, the Queen Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s London residence, the Palace of Westminster, and at North Bank on the River Thames.

In relation to one of the charges involving a football stadium, police say Wilson “flew a small unmanned surveillance aircraft over a congested area, during a football match between Liverpool FC and Aston Villa FC without a permission issued by the Civil Aviation Authority.”

The Met also says: “(Wilson) did not maintain direct, unaided visual contact with a small unmanned surveillance aircraft to monitor its flight path in relation to persons and structures.”

]]>0Man is summoned to court after flying drones over Buckingham Palace and football stadiumsFlickr’s new Chrome extension serves up a fresh photo with each new tab you openhttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/18/flickrs-new-chrome-extension-serves-up-a-new-photo-with-each-new-tab-you-open/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/18/flickrs-new-chrome-extension-serves-up-a-new-photo-with-each-new-tab-you-open/#commentsWed, 18 Mar 2015 22:10:26 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1681986Photo-hosting platform Flickr has launched a new extension for Chrome that serves up a fresh photo each time you open a new tab in Google's browser.
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Photo-hosting platform Flickr has launched a new extension for Chrome that presents a fresh photo each time you open a new tab in Google’s browser.

Flickr Tab is simple but does bring a little extra pizzazz to new tabs, and you can also click on a photo to view it directly on Flickr and look at more images from that uploader. The Yahoo-owned company is emulating a recent launch from Google itself, when the Internet giant introduced the Google Art Project extension, which serves up a classic piece of art every time you open a new tab.

]]>0Flickr’s new Chrome extension serves up a fresh photo with each new tab you openGoogle brings real-world graffiti onto Chromecast and other deviceshttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/17/google-brings-real-world-graffiti-onto-chromecast-and-other-devices/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/17/google-brings-real-world-graffiti-onto-chromecast-and-other-devices/#commentsTue, 17 Mar 2015 15:56:45 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1680826Nine months after Google announced it was bringing street art online as part of its Google Art Project, the Internet giant has revealed it's doubling the number of high-res images available to more than 10,000, while also making it available through Chrome, Chromecast, and Android Wear.
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Nine months after Google announced it was bringing street art (read: graffiti) online through an initiative with galleries from around the world, the Internet giant has revealed it’s doubling the number of high-res images available to more than 10,000, while also making it available through Chrome, Chromecast, and Android Wear.

The Google Art Project is part of the Google Cultural Institute, the Google arm that has been working with art and cultural institutions to digitize offline exhibits. For street art specifically, Google has been working with 86 art organizations from 34 countries to help preserve some of the cool urban creations on walls and buildings around the world.

This has led to some pretty impressive crossover pieces of art dubbed “GIF-iti” — street art that’s “photographed, re-painted, and then re-photographed” to create something like this:

Above: When the web and street art meet: GIF-iti

The Google Art Project also taps Street View to deliver walking tours and audio-visual stories behind some of the street art, as you can see in the likes of the New York City water tank tour.

Last October, Google revealed a new feature for its HDMI streaming dongle, Chromecast, that lets users personalize the rotating background images when beaming to their screen. It basically serves as a giant screensaver for TVs, letting users access their own Google+ photos, artwork from galleries, museums, and more.

With that in mind, Google is now bringing street art to Chromecast, while also partnering with a number of organizations to introduce mobile apps dedicated to local street art scenes — this includes Melbourne’s colorful lanes and lively murals from key locations around the world such as Honolulu.

Google also recently launched a new Chrome extension that serves up a fresh piece of art with each new tab you open — this will also now tap into its growing street art library. Finally, Google’s wearables-focused operating system, Android Wear, is also getting some street art lovin’, with new watchfaces to personalize your smart timepiece

Clear Flight Solutions has won €1.6 million (about $1.7 million) to invest in “robird” drones that mimic the flight of peregrine falcons in order to scare other birds away from damaging private property.

This modern scarecrow startup has come out of the University of Twente in the Netherlands, and it wants to prevent the “billions of dollar” damage made by birds at airports every year, which sometimes results in loss of life.

U.S.-based seed investors Cottonwood Euro Technology Fund, which opened its first European office in the Netherlands in July last year, has made the investment. Said Ray Quintana, lead general partner of the Cottonwood Euro Technology Fund,

The bird control problem is much bigger than we initially imagined. Clear Flight Solutions has developed technology with tremendous potential that addresses a global problem. We have also identified various other applications of the technology. That makes this the ideal business case for our first European investment.

It is hoped that using drones will stop the birds from learning how to get around measures made to prevent them nesting. The tech can be applied to other industries, including agriculture, waste management, oil and gas, and harbors.

Nico Nijenhuis, CEO of Clear Flight Solutions, said:

We have completed a very successful trial at waste management site in Twente, which is one of the most challenging environments. Currently, we have committed to a number of trial runs and are in discussion across every application area — including one of the leading European airports. Cottonwood’s investment will allow us to execute these trials, and their worldwide network with industry leaders will bring our company to the next level.

More information:

More information:

]]>0Bird-scaring drone startup scores $1.7M to, well, terrorize birdsThis meditation app is seriously changing my lifehttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/15/this-meditation-app-is-seriously-changing-my-life/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/15/this-meditation-app-is-seriously-changing-my-life/#commentsMon, 16 Mar 2015 00:00:21 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1679729I work in New York City, and like any typical New Yorker, my state of mind is endlessly fluctuating between sort of stressed out, and totally and completely stressed out. There are only two speeds. I’ve found throughout my life that living that way, day to day, is not healthy. Stress-filled days build on each […]
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I work in New York City, and like any typical New Yorker, my state of mind is endlessly fluctuating between sort of stressed out, and totally and completely stressed out. There are only two speeds.

I’ve found throughout my life that living that way, day to day, is not healthy. Stress-filled days build on each other, and can leave you often jaded about the world, isolated as you are in the little anxiety-ridden universe you’ve created.

For the past eight months I’ve been training a lot in Yoga, and I love it. That’s gotten me thinking more about meditation. I’ve done a little reading here and there, and plan to do more on how to actually start truly meditating on my own.

But in the meantime, I’ve discovered a really awesome app for my phone that provides guided meditations separated into categories depending on what you’re using it for.

It may sound counterintuitive — phones, technology, that’s all about a culture obsessed with their own short attention spans, right?

Nope. This app — called “Buddhify” — is completely awesome. And the key is in their compassionate delivery.

Think of it as on demand meditations for every part of your day. I love it.

Here’s the extremely simple way it works:

Let’s say you’re on a train on the way to work, and you want to clear your mind to prepare for the day. You put on your headphones, open the app, and you see this handy wheel:

Above: Screenshot of Buddhify’s mediation “wheel.”

Image Credit: Matt Johnston/Business Insider

Each of these little slivers of the pie represent the part of your day or event you need the meditation for. For example, you could select “feeling stressed,” “walking in the city,” “work break,” “difficult emotions,” or in our current example, “traveling.”

Once you click a category, you’ll get four or five options of different meditations you can do and their title. It also tells you how long they are. Some are four minutes, some are 15. There’s a great range here depending on how much time you want to spend on the meditation.

Above: Buddhify recommends mediations based on what you need.

Image Credit: Matt Johnston/Business Insider

After that you see this:

Above: A guided meditation with Buddhify.

Image Credit: Matt Johnston/Business Insider

Then, it’s all about sitting back, relaxing, and pressing play.

I really love this app. The people they’ve employed to lead these meditations are fantastic. Each voice is compassionate, modern, and even a little amusing at times in all the right ways. I’ve used this app on the train, walking in the street, or just sitting cross legged on my living room carpet.

It’s only a couple bucks and is available on both Android and iOS. I can’t recommend it enough, it will revolutionize your day if you let it.

]]>0This meditation app is seriously changing my lifeAt SXSW, GE shows how data analytics can make some damn good barbecuehttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/14/at-sxsw-ge-shows-how-data-analytics-can-make-some-damn-good-barbecue/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/14/at-sxsw-ge-shows-how-data-analytics-can-make-some-damn-good-barbecue/#commentsSat, 14 Mar 2015 22:07:53 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1679355By showing something easy to understand, like cooking barbecue, GE hopes to help people understand the connection between large industrial systems and data analytics.
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AUSTIN, Texas — If there are two things that bind the South by Southwest Interactive festival (SXSW) and the city that hosts it every year, they are technology and barbecue.

So it makes total sense that General Electric would set up shop near the Austin Convention Center, SXSW’s ground zero, with what it called a BBQ Research Center.

The goal? To demonstrate, in very easy-to-understand terms, the connection between GE’s many large-scale, high-tech industrial systems and data analytics. “People understand barbecue,” said Lynn DeRose, senior scientist and project leader for GE Research. “It’s a lot more tangible than a steam-gas turbine generator.”

Above: An explanation of the sensors used in the super smoker.

Image Credit: Daniel Terdiman/VentureBeat

That’s why GE commissioned a 12-foot-tall “super smoker,” the biggest-daddy barbecue cooker I’ve ever seen, with seven embedded sensors designed to generate data that is then transmitted to analytics software.

Which, of course, is a dry, techy way of saying that GE built a system designed to make some damn good brisket, ribs, and sausage.

Inside the giant smoker, five sensors constantly measure the temperature inside the box, DeRose told me. Another keeps track of relative humidity and smoke flow out the chimney.

On a nearby screen, the data shows up in real time. According to DeRose, the most important is a line showing the temperature. “We want the temperature data to come into a straight line,” she explained, “so the cooking parts are all at an even temperature.”

One of the most important aspects of this system is that it is designed to provide the barbecue’s pitmaster with a real-time look at how his meat is doing without him having to open the cooker. That helps maintain a steady temperature during the 18 hours, seven hours, and one hour it takes, respectively, to cook brisket, ribs, and sausage, DeRose said. “That means he can cook more reproducible barbecue,” she said.

More to the point, this is the barbecue version of understanding how any of GE’s industrial processes actually operates, DeRose argued.

Does it all work? DeRose, a frequent barbecue cook at her New York state home, thinks so. But this is Austin, and the bar is set very high. Though I’m from California, I have to admit that despite my hoping for perfectly cooked high-tech barbecue, it was a tiny bit overdone. Maybe relying so much on data analytics when cooking ribs isn’t quite the way to go.

Having becoming a lightning rod for controversy after being discovered to have used taxpayer funds to lavishly outfit his office in the style of “Downtown Abbey,” a Congressman from Illinois has reportedly pulled out of a South by Southwest panel.

Schock began taking flak last month when word emerged that he had decorated his Congressional office as if it was set in the PBS British period show, Downton Abbey.

Schock was originally scheduled to appear alongside Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and Evan Feinberg, the president of Generation Opportunity. Schock’s place now goes to Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), The Hill reported.

Schock did not immediately respond to a VentureBeat request for comment.

The panel addresses the concerns of the 90 million Americans in the millennial generation.

“They are a tech-savvy, highly educated, and engaged group poised to change the world around them,” the panel’s description reads. “Unfortunately, they are facing a number of hurdles such as unprecedented unemployment and a status quo hindering new innovations and technology. In the midst of this climate, a growing cast of young leaders are emerging to change the narrative. Through this bipartisan panel, we will hear from Millennial elected officials who are putting aside partisan labels and working to change our future together.”

]]>0‘Downton Abbey’ Congressman withdraws from SXSW [updated]This guy copied the Million Dollar Homepage so the Internet can buy him a $10K Apple Watchhttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/13/this-guy-copied-the-million-dollar-homepage-so-the-internet-can-buy-him-a-10k-apple-watch/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/13/this-guy-copied-the-million-dollar-homepage-so-the-internet-can-buy-him-a-10k-apple-watch/#commentsFri, 13 Mar 2015 14:46:28 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1678666Some guy is ripping off the idea behind the Million Dollar Homepage to fund his purchase of the Apple Watch Edition — and the tech media is totally on board.
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Remember The Million Dollar Homepage? Well, it’s been reinvented by another dude who is selling blocks of pixels for $1 so he can eventually purchase one of the $10,000 versions of the Apple Watch Edition.

The Ten Thousand Dollar Homepage was created in pursuit of a less lofty goal than that of the maker of the Million Dollar Homepage, who was raising funds to put himself through university. Still, in its short lifespan, the Ten Thousand Dollar Homepage is already representing the names of major tech media entities like This Week in Tech, 9to5 Mac, the Verge, the Unofficial Apple Weblog, Mac Rumors, Cult of Mac, Gizmodo, and of course, VentureBeat news editor, Harrison Weber.

It’s worth noting that the pixels up for purchase are not actually pixels — they’re much bigger. So in a sense you get more for your money with the Ten Thousand Dollar Homepage than with the Million Dollar Homepage, but again, your dollars are supporting a very different cause.

]]>0This guy copied the Million Dollar Homepage so the Internet can buy him a $10K Apple WatchIt’s raining cats and dogs at SXSWhttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/13/its-raining-cats-and-dogs-at-sxsw/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/13/its-raining-cats-and-dogs-at-sxsw/#commentsFri, 13 Mar 2015 13:30:09 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1678443Despite all the terrible marketing leading up to it, SXSW is still a terrific interactive festival.
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AUSTIN, Texas — Raise your hand if you know who Morris the cat is. OK now, if you’re older than 30, put it down. Hand still in the air?

I doubt it.

Today, as I was pulling myself together for my first day at South by Southwest (SXSW), an email arrived in my inbox: “Interview the World’s Most Tech Savvy Cat.” Meaning Morris.

I’m a huge cat person, and if you ever look at my Twitter feed, you’ll notice I post way too many pictures of my cats, many of them on or near keyboards. But even I have to say that felines are not all that tech-savvy. Especially not Morris.

When I searched Google for “Morris the cat,” the top suggestion that auto-popped up was “Morris the cat died.” Not a good starting point for a cutting-edge tech celebrity.

But after noting that Morris was “the world’s original ‘celebricat’ and the star of 50+ popular … cat food TV commercials over the past 45 years,” the email, on behalf of a pet food brand I shall not name, promised that, here at SXSW, he “will become the world’s first ‘feline tech correspondent': Not only will he report on the latest tech trends and events live from SXSW, but he will also be available for on-camera interviews and red carpet appearances.”

That’s when my palm hit my face at pretty near the speed of sound.

Grumpy Cat and bacon

I shouldn’t have been surprised. In the early going of this year’s SXSW marketingpalooza — which has been going on for weeks, judging by the email I’ve gotten — pitches tying animals to technology have been legion.

To begin with, there’s the kitty who truly is the most Internet famous: Grumpy Cat. Let me quote a line from a pitch email I got about that the other day: “I just wanted to follow up about the cat and bacon-centric event we are having at SXSW.” Yup, Grumpy Cat and bacon.

And not just Grumpy Cat. Joining that famous star here in the Texas capital during SXSW, also to promote a pet-food brand, are “five of her famous feline friends”: Nala Cat, Waffles, SamHasEyebrows, Oskar the Blind Cat and his brother Klaus.

Yet another Internet-famous feline, Lil’ Bub, is here too. And while that cat is teaming up with a cable TV network, at least the major message they’re trying to spread is raising money for shelter animals.

It turns out that Grumpy Cat and friends are also going to be helping out shelter animals, but that message is buried way down in the email I got about their visit. It felt like an afterthought someone added when they realized that the most people would only see it as a pitch for bacon-flavored cat food.

And it’s not just cats. Dogs will be in effect here as well. As has been widely reported, Mophie has hired a St. Bernard to walk around downtown Austin, dispensing power to battery-challenged mobile device users. A St. Bernard dispensing help. Get it?

“Inspired by tales of St. Bernard rescue dogs in the Swiss Alps,” Mophie wrote on its Web site, “the mophieRescue Team will dispatch Saint Bernard dogs at SXSW from March 13 through March 15.”

Cats for good

Fortunately, someone else realized that there was a disconnect between animals getting famous on the Internet and the problems faced by millions of homeless cats, dogs, and other could-be pets. Next Monday, SXSW attendees will be able to check out “CAT”astrophe: Good, Bad and Ugly of Internet Cats, a panel discussion about the grim fate of many of those animals. “We’ll ask for your ideas on how to take the obsession and fascination we have for Internet cats,” the panel’s creator wrote, to “use the power of social media and advocate for change so that more lives are saved.”

Here’s the thing. As someone who’s been coming to SXSW for years — this is my 10th — I know that buried beneath the uncountable layers of marketing, most of which is tasteless or at least pointless, there’s still a terrific interactive festival.

In my early years at SXSW, that’s pretty much all it was, and it was a treat. But ever since Twitter exploded here in 2007, brands have tried to use the event as their own launchpad to success. Few have succeeded. And when the huge brands — car companies, device makers, tech giants, and others — started to overrun downtown Austin with massive temporary installations, it got harder and hard to find the creative spark that once ruled the day here.

Thankfully, as I always tell people, that spark is still very much in evidence during SXSW, if you know where to look for it. One place is at the (mostly) annual Laughing Squid drink-up, which took place Thursday night. I have often called that gathering, at the Ginger Man bar, the “beating heart of the Internet.” It’s not a marketing bash. It’s a place for geeks and digerati luminaries to come and have a beer and just chat like normal people.

Amazing panels

And, of course, there’s tons of amazing panels, talks, keynotes, and the like. For example, Google X head Astro Teller will give a keynote on Tuesday; NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman will talk on Sunday about his experiences in space; and Ello founder Paul Budnitz will give a talk today about building a social network that doesn’t seek to turn its users into its product. And, of course, there’s a discussion about the Greatest Geek Moment in History on Sunday (disclosure: that’s my panel).

The point is, for those who came to SXSW to learn things, to be inspired, and to meet amazing people, there’s plenty to keep them busy, and away from the suffocating marketing messages. But it’s harder than ever.

There’s a bit of a truism in Hollywood that when an actor starts starring in movies alongside animals, his or her career is in serious trouble. At least creative trouble.

I’m not making that argument about SXSW, since there’s still plenty to delight the mind, but it’s worth taking note that for the third straight year, Grumpy Cat will be one of the biggest names in town.

And then there’s this pet food for thought, courtesy of the lovely marketer pitching Morris (and, believe it or not, attributed to Morris): “To make SXSW coverage really creative, tell those tech journalists to think outside of the box. Then inside of the box. Then outside again. Cats do love boxes.”

I think there’s a different kind of cat-related box for these types of messages.

]]>0It’s raining cats and dogs at SXSWGoogle’s new Chrome extension serves up a fresh piece of art with each new tab you openhttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/12/googles-new-chrome-extension-serves-up-a-fresh-piece-of-art-with-each-new-tab-you-open/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/12/googles-new-chrome-extension-serves-up-a-fresh-piece-of-art-with-each-new-tab-you-open/#commentsThu, 12 Mar 2015 09:36:37 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1677817Google has launched a neat new extension for Chrome that brings you a fresh piece of art from the likes of Monet or Van Gogh every time you open a tab.
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Google has launched a neat new extension for Chrome that brings a fresh piece of art from the likes of Monet or Van Gogh every time you open a new tab.

You can actually tweak the settings within the extension, so that you either see a new piece of art every day with each tab you open, or literally a new piece of art with every new tab you open.

Above: Google Art Project

This reminds us a little bit of the DailyArt app, which pushes a classic piece of art to your phone every day. But for those tethered to their laptop, Google’s new extension now delivers a little cultural enlightenment direct to their desktop too.

]]>0Google’s new Chrome extension serves up a fresh piece of art with each new tab you open#ICYMI: Jamba’s new AAPL juice and more tech stories you shouldn’t misshttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/11/icymi-jambas-new-aapl-juice-and-more-tech-stories-you-shouldnt-miss/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/11/icymi-jambas-new-aapl-juice-and-more-tech-stories-you-shouldnt-miss/#commentsWed, 11 Mar 2015 21:18:28 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1677454Gaming execs: Join 180 select leaders from King, Glu, Rovio, Unity, Facebook, and more to plan your path to global domination in 2015. GamesBeat Summit is invite-only -- apply here. Ticket prices increase on April 3rd! Welcome to ICYMI, a rundown of news that you might have missed today. From VB: No surprises here: Asus attacks Apple for making products for […]
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Apple’s App Store and iTunes Store went down today, forcing me to only distract myself with apps I already own.

]]>0#ICYMI: Jamba’s new AAPL juice and more tech stories you shouldn’t missWhen Oculus meets Kinect, virtual reality gets a whole lot more realhttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/11/when-oculus-meets-kinect-virtual-reality-gets-a-whole-lot-more-real/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/11/when-oculus-meets-kinect-virtual-reality-gets-a-whole-lot-more-real/#commentsWed, 11 Mar 2015 14:30:51 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1676985Thanks to Kinect's motion-sensing, you can have arms in VR, and move them just like you do in real life.
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REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — In the real world, we have arms and we like to use them. To point. To make points. To scratch our heads. To gesture randomly, or wildly. So why wouldn’t we want the same thing for our avatars in a virtual world?

That’s the rationale for the newest feature of AltSpaceVR’s Oculus virtual reality environments — an integration of Microsoft’s Kinect motion sensor that recognizes your arm and body movements and translates them to your virtual doppelganger.

AltSpaceVR, a startup developing shared VR spaces — places where people from across the globe can gather to do things like watch movies, the Super Bowl, or have meetings — may be the first to combine Kinect with Oculus, at least in a commercial application. And thanks to that implementation, you can now have much richer, more realistic VR exchanges.

Last week, I visited AltSpaceVR’s offices in this city 27 miles south of San Francisco for a demo. Although the company also showed me its new multi-user Netflix content synchronization — meaning multiple people can “sit” together and watch movies or TV shows on Netflix together in a virtual theater — I was much more taken with the Kinect feature.

Standing up in a small conference room, a set of Oculus goggles on my head, I began waving my arms. Immediately, my “arms” appeared in front of me, moving just as I was moving my real limbs. Up, down, left, right. Together, or one at a time — whatever I was actually doing.

Above: Look, it’s my arms!

Image Credit: AltSpaceVR

“We imagine this as a one-to-many type of thing,” said Eric Romo, AltSpace’s CEO, “where someone on stage could be gesturing or pointing to a slide. Or musicians, for example, where you might see the musician making realistic gestures.”

Yes, that’s right. VR air guitar.

Or, as Romo shows me, as he mimed the letters from the famous Village People song, a virtual “YMCA” dance.

Right now, there’s not much more to it, and AltSpace’s avatars are still pretty rudimentary. Without the Kinect integration, they look like thin robots with no arms, and with Kinect, they … have arms.

But spend any time inside AltSpace’s Oculus environments and you quickly realize that the addition of realistic gestures brings a level of emotional realism to the avatars that wasn’t there before. Although there was some realism thanks to the movement of the avatars’ heads — which mirrored the Oculus-wearing user’s head movements — it was pretty limited. And despite the fact that the Kinect doesn’t capture the movement of individual fingers, meaning that the hands are sort of monolithic, there’s definitely something important going on.

It’s not hard to imagine how, as AltSpaceVR improves the integration, or other VR developers work out their own implementations, that our digital representations in virtual reality, be it Oculus, or Magic Leap, or Microsoft’s HoloLens, or Sony’s Morpheus, will successfully convey all the little bits of information and nuance that we do every day with our carbon-based bodies.

But it might be awhile, as those in the movie industry know all too well. As Romo put it, recalling a recent conversation with someone in film visual effects, “‘We can’t even make you like you if we have 20 hours [of image processing time] per frame.’”

The resulting imagery has been added to Street View, revealing some of the effort taking place within the Tōhoku’s Iwate Prefecture, an area that saw tsunami waves reach more than 40 metres in height. Google and its partners have also captured indoor panorama pictures of facilities contained within Fukushima’s evacuation areas, as well as views from the ocean.

]]>0Google Street View captures reconstruction efforts of Japan earthquake, 4 years afterIndiegogo’s new crowdfunding record: $5.3M and counting for a smart beekeeping systemhttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/09/indiegogos-new-crowdfunding-record-5-3m-and-counting-for-a-smart-beekeeping-system/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/09/indiegogos-new-crowdfunding-record-5-3m-and-counting-for-a-smart-beekeeping-system/#commentsMon, 09 Mar 2015 20:49:32 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1675839Less than a week after Kickstarter saw the new Pebble smartwatch smash its previous funding record to smithereens, fellow crowdfunding platform Indiegogo has an all-new record to boast about too.
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With $5.3 million in the coffers so far and 27 days still remaining, the Flow Hive campaign has now passed the previous record-holder — Hour of Code — which had received some big-name donations from the likes of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg to help increase uptake of computer science in schools.

Flow Hive is being developed by an Australia-based father-and-son team to help revolutionize beehives — it lets beekeepers harvest honey without having to open the hive and pester the bees. You can see it in action for yourself here:

Though it has a long way to go to beat Kickstarter’s current $17 million record — a figure that will likely rise even higher over the next few weeks with the Pebble watch campaign still active — we’re really starting to see some big bucks flying around in the crowdfunding realm. Here’s the full top 10 list of most-funded campaigns in Indiegogo history:

]]>0Indiegogo’s new crowdfunding record: $5.3M and counting for a smart beekeeping systemThe first round-the-world solar-powered flight took off todayhttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/09/the-first-manned-solar-powered-round-the-world-flight-has-taken-off-today/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/09/the-first-manned-solar-powered-round-the-world-flight-has-taken-off-today/#commentsMon, 09 Mar 2015 10:24:11 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1675287The Solar Impulse took off from Abu Dhabi today, in an attempt to become the first ever manned aircraft to circumnavigate the globe powered entirely by solar energy.
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Today’s flight took off from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), a little after 7 a.m. local time (7 p.m. PDT), and will head eastward through India, China, the U.S., Europe, and Africa before landing back in the UAE in August. Yes, commercial airlines can relax for now–the single-seater aircraft will take around five months to complete the circumnavigation, with a multitude of stopovers for rest and maintenance planned. This time will also be spent campaigning on behalf of clean technologies.

Borschberg won’t undertake the full journey, however, as some stages will be piloted by record-breaking hot air ballooner Bertrand Piccard–someone with a big family tradition of record-setting feats. In 1960, Piccard’s father, Jacques, was one of the first people to reach the deepest place in the ocean, while in 1931 his grandfather, Auguste, was the first to reach the stratosphere in a balloon.

The Solar Impulse team had to build a bigger version of the original Solar Impulse prototype, given that it will be required to be in the air for longer periods of time and thus will need to store more energy from the sun. The aircraft sports a 72-meter wingspan–which is actually wider than a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, as the BBC points out–and it’s these wings that house the 17,000 solar cells that will be used to power the lithium-ion batteries for nighttime flying.

]]>0The first round-the-world solar-powered flight took off today7 things Apple definitely won’t launch at its Apple Watch event tomorrowhttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/08/7-things-apple-definitely-wont-launch-at-its-apple-watch-event-tomorrow/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/08/7-things-apple-definitely-wont-launch-at-its-apple-watch-event-tomorrow/#commentsSun, 08 Mar 2015 18:03:12 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1674974We'll hear all about the watch's specs and pricing. Apple may also have a few surprises planned -- but not Apple Car.
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Apple is expected to fully unveil the Apple Watch tomorrow — we’ll hear all about the device’s specs, pricing, and imminent release. Apple may also have a few surprises planned, including a preview of the rumored 12-inch Retina MacBook Air.

But what about the other Apple rumors? The Apple Car? The giant iPad? Here’s a list of everything we think Apple won’t launch at its event tomorrow.

1. Apple Television

We could hear about an update to Apple’s existing set-top box (Apple TV), but don’t count on seeing an iMac-inspired all-in-one television.

2. New streaming music service

Apple plans to save its Beats Music relaunch for WWDC — Apple’s annual developer conference — according to 9to5Mac.

3. iPad Pro

Apple’s larger iPad is reportedly in the works, but manufacturing delays could push the launch date back significantly.

4. Apple Car

Apple is definitely interested in auto tech (proof: CarPlay). But if Apple has a self-driving car in the works, it probably won’t launch in the next five years.

5. iCrowave

Apple’s long-awaited microwave oven probably won’t launch tomorrow.

6. “iKnow guac is extra”

Apple’s device that answers that question for you at Chipotle definitely isn’t ready for a consumer launch.

7. Smart Fedora

Apple’s attempt to appeal to the Android crowd. Don’t hold your breath for this one.

What would have happened if Microsoft didn’t skip straight from Windows 3.x to Windows 95? Apparently, Windows 93.

Late last night, French digital artists Jankenpopp and Zombectro announced on Reddit that the “operating system” Windows 93 is finally complete. First teased in October 2014, this browser-based creation brings together the unstableness of early Windows versions with the hilarity of the Internet.

While you will suddenly find yourself double-clicking a lot, it should be noted that Windows 93 does work surprisingly well on mobile devices. After the PlayStation bootup sound plays to let you know you’ve logged in, you’ll be quickly taken to the desktop:

It won’t be long, however, before you’re taken to the not-so-centered blue screen of death (BSOD) error:

Windows 93 perfectly blends together apps that actually work surprisingly well with apps that never, ever work. It’s not even clear from the names (Piskel is almost better than Paint, while Zkype doesn’t function at all) what exactly you should expect.

Windows 93 features a long list of goodies to check out, as it comes preloaded with various folders, files, and images. In case you’re wondering, yes, there is porn.

There is a lot to play around with, though you should be warned that this isn’t just a visual masterpiece: Your ears will be inundated as well. Windows 93 has a lot of functionality too, including interesting tools and games, but mainly these are jokes layered on top of more jokes.

As you’re calmly exploring the OS, you will sometimes find that out of nowhere, it suddenly crashes. Just like the old days!

If all of this isn’t enough for you, read about Windows 93 over at Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia.

To be honest, we’re a little sad Windows 93 can’t be installed on a PC. There is, however, a virtual PC function that lets you run Windows 93 inside Windows 93.

]]>0Windows 93 is finally done and ready to crash for youFisker may be gone, but you can still buy its electric carshttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/04/fisker-may-be-gone-but-you-can-still-buy-its-electric-cars/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/04/fisker-may-be-gone-but-you-can-still-buy-its-electric-cars/#commentsThu, 05 Mar 2015 06:00:04 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?post_type=vb_syndicated&p=1672867The Fisker Karma extended-range electric luxury sedan has been out of production since July 2012, but it's hardly gone away.
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The Fisker Karma extended-range electric luxury sedan has been out of production since July 2012, but it’s hardly gone away.

Chinese automotive supplier Wanxiang, which now owns the car company, hopes to restart sales of the low, sleek, striking four-seat sedan under the Elux name sometime next year.

And owners continue to be stopped on the street and asked about the striking lines of their cars, almost three years after Karma assembly halted.

While there remains a lot of uncertainty around Wanxiang’s plans for the former Fisker, there’s another option for anyone wanting a Karma.

It turns out that a decent selection of used Karmas is currently for sale.

A quick search of eBay Motors pulled up 17 cars, with prices ranging from a low of $41,111 to a high of $76,500. Most seemed to fall within the $50-$60,000 range, though.

All Karmas sold in the original production run were 2012 models, and the ones currently for sale generally seem to have low mileage.

The highest-mileage example here had 38,000 miles, and there were a couple of cars showing less than 2,000 miles.

Most of the cars for sale appear to be in stock condition, but some have custom wheels and other modifications.

Searching AutoTrader yielded 70 results, with a similar average price of around $50,000 to $60,000 and all listings showing fairly low mileage.

There were a few cars listed with less than 1,000 miles–nudging prices closer to $70,000–and at least two listed as “new,” with asking prices of more than $100,000.

While the total number of used Karmas for sale isn’t terribly large, they represent a fairly significant proportion of the 2,600 or so cars cars built before Fisker’s bankruptcy.

To put that in perspective, the Tesla Roadster was built in similar numbers, and there are hardly any used examples to be found.

As it works to relaunch the Karma, new owner Wanxiang will reportedly keep most of the original design, but address “bugs” that afflicted the first run of cars.

Early cars suffered from faulty electronics and lithium-ion battery cells, as well as the potential for cooling-fan fires–issues potential buyers should be aware of.

All extant Karmas were assembled by Finnish contractor Valmet Automotive, but Wanxiang will reportedly move production elsewhere.

Fisker still owns an ex-GM assembly plant in Delaware, which Wanxiang claimed it would use in some capacity when bidding for the company’s remains.

]]>0Fisker may be gone, but you can still buy its electric carsThe two women behind the viral dress want to turn it into something positive for girlshttp://venturebeat.com/2015/02/28/the-two-women-behind-the-viral-dress-have-a-plan-to-turn-it-into-something-positive-for-girls/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/02/28/the-two-women-behind-the-viral-dress-have-a-plan-to-turn-it-into-something-positive-for-girls/#commentsSat, 28 Feb 2015 19:00:00 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?post_type=vb_syndicated&p=1670212T-shirts are selling for $14.99 and allow the wearer to declare which colors they saw.
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McNeill put the picture on a Tumblr fan page she runs for Weichel, who works with YouTube stars. The picture was originally taken by the mother of one of McNeill’s friends. McNeill told Business Insider the mother took a photo of the dress because she wore it to her daughter’s wedding. When McNeill saw her friends debating the photo on Facebook, she decided to share it on Tumblr and Internet history was made.

The t-shirts are selling for $14.99 on Represent.com and allow the wearer to declare which colors they saw. As of this writing, the site says over 600 t-shirts have been sold and almost twice as many people have chosen “Team #WhiteandGold.”

]]>0The two women behind the viral dress want to turn it into something positive for girlsLearn to program robots for free, on your own timehttp://venturebeat.com/2015/02/26/learn-to-program-robots-for-free-on-your-own-time/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/02/26/learn-to-program-robots-for-free-on-your-own-time/#commentsFri, 27 Feb 2015 05:00:27 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1669556TurtleBot wants to inspire and enable the next generation of robot programmers.
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Wanna-be robot programmers short on cash and time can learn what they need when and where they want.

Thanks to a new initiative from TurtleBot — an open-source development kit for rolling robot applications — anyone can learn robotics programming for free.

The TurtleBot costs about $1,000 fully built, or less for those inclined to build them on their own. The robot is meant as an educational platform to help people “build a robot that can drive around your house, see in 3D, and have enough horsepower to create exciting applications.”

According to the company, the new tutorials were designed at a high-school level and would be expected to take three or four days — perhaps two weekends — to finish. “By the series end, developers will be able to direct their TurtleBot to bring them coffee to their desk,” the company said.

But what TurtleBot really is hoping for, it said, is not large numbers of coffee-bots rolling around, but rather a new generation of robot programmers.